What's new?

The University of Basel returns with its traditional Art & Law conference taking place during Art Basel on Thursday, 18 June 2026 at the Congress Center Basel. Now in its 15th edition, the conference brings together an international audience to examine current developments at the intersection of art and law, with a particular focus on market dynamics, cultural heritage, estate planning, and artificial intelligence. The conference is organised in partnership with the University of Basel, the Art Law Foundation and the University of Geneva.

Programme

• Bertold Mueller – The Art Markets Today: Navigating Trends, Tensions, and Transitions
• Alana Kushnir – Aboriginal Art in a Global Market: Legal and Ethical Issues
• Nadja Fischer – Objects of Colonial Origin and the New Swiss Commission on Cultural Heritage with a Problematic Past
• Anne Laure Bandle – Recent Changes to the Swiss Ordinance on the International Transfer of Cultural Property
• Sebastian Rieger – The Foundation as a Solution for a Collection Estate
• Quirijn Meijnen – Copyright as an Asset within an Artist’s Estate
• Alfred Früh – Is my Artwork Used for Training AI?

Participants will also receive a complimentary day pass to Art Basel.

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Sponsors: Art Basel, UNIQA Insurance Group, Helbing Lichtenhahn Verlag, Dike Verlag AG

Who really “owns” an artist’s name?

In today’s evolving art market, questions of identity, authorship, and legal protection are more relevant than ever—especially in an era shaped by AI, attribution disputes, and increasing market complexity.

Join the Schweizer Forum für Kommunikationsrecht / Forum Suisse pour le Droit de la Communication (SF-FS), the Université de Fribourg – Universität Freiburg and the Fondation pour le droit de l’art / Art Law Foundation for an insightful event:
“The Artist’s Name: Identity, Authorship and Legal Protection”
This conference will explore key legal challenges surrounding:
🔹 Attribution and authorship
🔹 Protection of artists’ identity
🔹 Practical challenges for artists
🔹 Emerging issues in digital and AI-driven art
Bringing together leading experts in art history, art law, philosophy, and practice, this is a must-attend for lawyers, collectors, academics, and art market professionals interested in the intersection of law and artistic identity.

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Sponsors: Art Basel, UNIQA Insurance Group, Helbing Lichtenhahn Verlag, Dike Verlag AG

At this year’s annual PAIAM conference at Sotheby’s London, Alexandra Watson Jones, Alexander Herman, Joachim Sieber, Angelina Giovani-Agha and I looked at provenance issues and discussed innovative solutions. Key takeaways are:

🔍 Transparency & Communication
Museums today face growing public expectations around provenance transparency – and the conversation made one thing clear: openness is no longer optional. Museums must actively engage with their audiences, clearly communicating not only what is known about an object’s history, but also where gaps remain. Initiatives like dedicated provenance galleries signal a strong institutional commitment, while also highlighting how much research still needs to be done.
⚖️ Independent Research & Governance
The importance of independent commissions was emphasized – ensuring objectivity in provenance research and in handling restitution claims. Equally critical is making this research visible to the public, reinforcing accountability.
🛡️ Immunity from Seizure
Museums must be fully satisfied with provenance checks before accepting works. While requests for immunity from seizure remain relatively limited, they are shaping practice – especially by embedding ethical considerations into legal frameworks.
🌍 Global due diligence
Provenance has become crucial in many aspects, including for export and import controls. The applicable standard should be an objective standard of due diligence, not strict diligence. In practice, however, there is no universal standard applying.
🤝 Advancing Provenance Research
Collaboration is key. Greater data sharing, improved access to archival resources, and digital tools are essential to advancing the field. Strengthening connections between scholars, institutions, and databases will drive more effective and transparent research. Check out The Source app!

The Association of Art Lawyers (ALA) annual conference 2025 included a round table discussion one of the most challenging and timely topics in the art and legal worlds: appropriation art and copyright law in Europe.

Our discussion focused on the specific exceptions which may be relevant for appropriation art under EU and UK copyright law, including parody, pastiche, quotation and caricature and more generally, the notions of fair dealing and artistic freedom. From recent case law to the practical realities faced by art lawyers, it was a truly thought-provoking exchange.

I had the pleasure to moderate the panel including Dr. Friederike Gräfin von Brühl, Alexander Herman and Adam Jomeen.

LINK TO THE ALA

In the RTS programme Basik, broadcast on 27 October 2025 and entitled ‘Marché de l’art, marché dollars’, Anne Laure Bandle is interviewed by journalist Lois Siggen Lopez.

On this occasion, she discusses the position of the Swiss art market, the pricing of works of art and the regulations applicable to art law.

WATCH THE PROGRAMME

For the first time, this year’s Art Basel conference organised by Recht Aktuell – University of Basel will take place in English on the Thursday of the fair, that is 19 June 2025. Now in partnership with the Art Law Foundation, the new conference format is intended to address new audiences. What has not changed is that it will bring together speakers on a large amount of topics related to art and law. I will have the pleasure to moderate a panel on the German and Swiss developments regarding claims for the return of Nazi-looted art.

Programme
10.15 – 10.35 Introduction
Vanessa Rüegger, Nicolas Mosimann, Lionel Schüpbach
Welcome Keynote
Conradin Cramer

10.35 – 10.55
Free to Create | Create to be Free: Artistic Freedom
at Times of Conflict and Crisis
Keynote: Sara Whyatt

10.55 – 11.10
Moderated Q&A
Sara Whyatt and Vanessa Rüegger (Moderator)

11.10 – 11.30
The New German “Arbitral Tribunal for Nazi-looted Art”
Matthias Weller

11.30 – 11.50
Cultural Objects with a Problematic Provenance –
Recent Developments in Switzerland
Marc-André Renold

11.50 – 12.15
Panel / Q&A
Matthias Weller, Marc-André Renold and Anne Laure Bandle (Moderator)

12.15 – 13.10
Lunch

13.15 – 13.35
AI as a Driving Force in Contemporary Art
Sabine Himmelsbach

13.35 – 13.55
Legal Aspects of AI with a Focus on Copyright
Lionel Schüpbach

13.55 – 14.05
Q&A

14.05 – 14.25
Did Data Protection just End Provenance Research?
Esther Zysset

14.25 – 14.30
Q&A

14.30 – 14.50
Unlocking ADR’s Potential in the Art Market
Justine Ferland

14.50 – 14.55
Q&A

14.55 – 15.00
Closing Remarks
Vanessa Rüegger, Nicolas Mosimann, Lionel Schüpbach

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